ETHNOCULTURAL STUDIES OF ORTHOREXIA NERVOSA

Abstract

The article presents an overview of the ethnocultural plane of the phenomenon of orthorexia nervosa ON (as a pathological obsession with healthy nutrition). The aim of the article is to make a meta-analysis of ON studies in different countries of the world and to create it’s causal model on the Ukrainian sample. The Western trend towards a healthy lifestyle (healthism) and healthy eating attracts the attention of researchers in other cultures. Modern studies of orthorexia nervosa on samples in China, India, Turkey and other countries of the East and Asia emphasize that orthorexia nervosa is diagnosed there as well. Deepening cultural studies of ON is a necessary direction. The study of orthorexia nervosa on the Ukrainian sample presented in the article at the beginning of 2024 showed the presence of orthorexia nervosa in most of the sample (using ORTO-15). In addition, the sample (77 respondents) was segmented by types of nutrition (vegetarianism, intermittent fasting, proper nutrition, intuitive nutrition, and others), and the average value of orthorexia was estimated in each subsample. This made it possible to establish the presence of ON in all subsamples, except for respondents who preferred the use of drugs for weight loss. The article analyzes the influence of socio-demographic factors on ON, from which the most influential ones are selected by structural equation modeling (SEM) method. A causal model of the relationship between various factors and orthorexia was created (an assessment of its quality and an interpretation of the parameters as well). The causal model confirmed that the type of diet and orthorexia have almost a quarter of the common variance, and women are also more likely to have this diagnosis. Attitudes toward food (e.g., food is pleasure; "fuel" for the body; a tool for maintaining beauty and health; or other) are correlated 15% with type of diet. The presence of the experience of experiencing ED in the past is almost a quarter interrelated with the attitude towards food.